I'm Trying
by tattooedmongrel
Summary: Ren just returned home after a year away and is adjusting when Noiz suddenly reappears. Meanwhile an unknown female tries to join Dry Juice for inexplicable reasons.
1. Chapter 1

"Welcome home, Ren," Aoba said as he and the dark-haired boy walked through the door.

It's been a few months since Ren made his spectacular reappearance in the body of Aoba's slightly older brother, and Aoba intended to keep him safe until he got completely used to the feel of it. Ren looked around quietly.

"Does it look different from higher up?" Aoba joked, trying to put him at ease.

He smiled a bit. "I'm adjusting well."

Aoba smiled, that made him happy. "Come on then, let's drop your stuff off in our room. Grams wants to see you."

"You've made her aware of the situation?" he asked as they climbed the stairs.

He nodded. "She knows everything. She really is happy to meet her new grandson."

Ren looked at his new body, deep in thought. This worried Aoba. "But if you don't think of her like that, or if you're uncomfortable, I'm sure she'll get it."

"I'll do what I'm told," he replied, earnestly.

Aoba opened the door to their room, and closed it behind Ren. "You don't have to, do whatever you want Ren."

"I want to make the two of you happy," he said facing away from Aoba, staring at a wall.

Aoba hugged him from behind, his hands clasping each other. "Ren, do something that makes you happy. You're a person, just like me or Grams or Koujaku. You deserve to be happy just as much as anybody else, if anything you might deserve it more than others."

He was silent for a moment, with Aoba's arms around him. He turned around, and the blue-haired boy looked at him. Pressing his forehead to Aoba's, he was able to silently reassure him.

They stood like that for a few minutes before a knock sounded on the bedroom door.

Aoba turned toward it. "Oh, that must be Grams." He walked up to the door, and opened it, smiling.

"Sorry Grams I-" his words were cut off by his surprise as Noiz strolled into his room."Noiz! What're you doing here?"

His question was ignored, and Noiz walked over top the bed and flopped down on it, falling sound asleep. Ren looked at him with interest and mild disgust. Noiz's allmate came jumping in soon after, and tried to climb onto the bed with him. Due to it's size, it just kept falling down.

As Aoba was about to go help it, Ren kneeled down and gently picked it up, placing it into the bed with Noiz.

"Easy there, tiny one," he whispered.

Aoba smiled, as Ren stood back up.

Glancing at him, Ren flushed. "What is it, Aoba?"

"Nothing," he grinned. "Come on, Grams is probably waiting."

Ren nodded once, and followed Aoba out the door.

She stood in the corner of Dry Juice's hangout, delicately folding a small piece of paper. The men around her were talking about her, as if she wasnt there. And she acted as though she wasnt listening.

"She's a chick, what if someone takes her?" someone said.

"Or what if she tried to bang one of us."

"Whats the point of letting her njoin? Shes no match for anybody, not even Bug Bomb."

"Enough," Mizuki, the leader of Dry Juice said. "You're all being rude, who cares if she's a girl? She looks capable." He smiled at her. "And it'd be cool to be the first team with a female."

Not that that mattered to her. Her gender being a deciding factor on this seemed archaic, if not boring. But she didn't care.

She stared at the tiny folded crane in her hand. "534," she whispered to herself. She gently put it in her pocket.

Nobody was going to stop her from finding him, whether she joined this Rib team or not.

Grams looks different from this point of view, was Ren's first thought. His second? He couldn't remember ever being hugged this tightly.

Aoba always seemed afraid to touch him, as if his new body were paper and his own hands scissors.

"Thank you child, for taking care of this nitwit," she smiled comfortably up at him.

"Grams!" Aoba shouted, "you make it sound like I'm such a handful."

"Because you are,"she said back,

Ren laughed a little, under his breathe. Aoba seemed surprised, but smiled.

"Now, now," Grams quieted them. Turning to Ren she said, "you must be exhausted. Go up and rest."

Ren nodded, and started to walk up the steps quietly. She held Aoba back when he tried to follow.

"Aoba, be careful with him," she warned. "Ren himself may be strong, but Sei's body still has a lot of work before it can be healthy. I don't want you to get your hopes up too much."

Aoba looked at the steps Ren just went up. It never occurred to him that Sei may fall before Ren did. The thought scared him. He just got his friend back!

Aoba cleared his throat, and smiled at her. "Everything will be fine," he assured her. "Ren won't be going anytime soon."

He left before she could say anything else.

Climbing the stairs, Aoba used willpower to keep from imagining a world without Ren again.

When he got to the room, he saw Noiz sitting on the floor and Ren standing, as if confused as to what to do next.

"Is everything ok?" Aoba asked.

Ren smiled at him sheepishly. "I'm uh... not quite sure how to put on pajamas."

Aoba stood quietly for a minute before bursting out laughing. Ren looked embarrassed, and Noiz just looked bored.

Pushing Noiz out of the room, Aoba closed the door. Turning back, he saw Ren trying to take off his shirt.

"Stop," Aoba laughed. Walking up to him, he showed Ren how to take off his clothes and then put them back on. All in all? It took about forty minutes to get Ren in bed. He has so many questions. 'How do you put on a belt?' or even 'how do i button my pants?'

Laying down, with his soft raven hair sprawled out against the pillow, he looked serene. He took deep breaths, his chest silently rising and falling.

"You're not going anywhere," Aoba vowed. "I need you to watch over me, after all."

"Always," Ren breathed, before falling asleep.

Aoba silently closed the door, and turned toward Noiz. Noiz stood there uncomfortably, with his old Rhyme attire.

"What happened to the suit?" Aoba asked, trying to break the tension.

He looked down at himself. "I..." he began.

Aoba stood there patiently, knowing he shouldn't push Noiz.

"I want her to know who I am," he said quietly, almost vulnerably.

Aoba was confused. But as soon as the timid look was there, it was gone. "I'm looking for someone."

"Who?" Aoba asked.

"I won't tell you that, if you see her you should know," he said. He started walking down the stairs. Aoba went after him.

"Wait, how am i supposed to know?" he asked. "Why are you looking for her?"

He stopped at the door. Without turning around he said, "because she's looking for me." And then he was gone.

Aoba put his hands in his pockets, thinking. He locked the door.

Climbing back upstairs, he thought about what Noiz had said. Who was he looking for, and why? And why would he tell me?

Walking into his room, he saw Ren on the bed. He was curled up on his side, his knees up to his chest, his hands by his face. Aoba smiled at him. Climbing into the bed, Aoba faced him.

And fell into the best sleep he'd had in awhile.


	2. Chapter 2

Walking through the streets, she took in the cities nighttime life. "It's rather bland, right Yuki?" she said, looking down at the soft white pup by her light green heels. Her breathe came out in small white puffs while she talked.

"Perhaps we should find a place for you to rest," he suggested.

"Nah," she replied, putting her hands into the pockets of her dark, tight coat. The leather softly squeaked. "I'm not tired."

He looked up at her. "You need rest if you have any hope of finding him."

She smiled at what sky she could see. "It's so dark here," she said.

"Payne," his voice was much more stern now. She looked back at him. "Rest."

She sighed. Picking him up carefully, she walked over to the nearest alley and sat down. She placed her Allmate on her lap. The concrete's cold seeped in through her pants.

"Will you not get a room?"

"I have no money silly," she smiled at him tenderly.

"Then i will stay awake to ensure your safety," he said, while looking out toward the alley opening. "Just try to stay warm."

"Thank you Yuki," she whispered, stroking his soft head while drifting off. The feeling was mirrored on her own scalp.

"Good morning Aoba-san!" a voice rang out, startling Aoba awake.

"Waa-" he started.

Clear put his fingers up to his lips with a shush. Then silently pointed at Ren's sleeping form.

Carefully getting up, so as not to wake Ren, Aoba motioned Clear towards the door.

"What are you doing here so early?" Aoba whispered.

Clear smiled. "I wanted to see you," he said.

"Really?"

Clear's mouth twitched. "Of course Aoba-san!" Aoba stared at him for a minute. "Is something wrong, Aoba-san?"

"Tell me the truth Clear. Why are you here?"

Clear's face fell. He looked at the ground. "I'm sorry Aoba-san. Please don't be mad. It's just... your voice sounded so powerful last night. And scared. Did you have a bad dream or something?"

"What do you mean?" Aoba asked.

"Im not quite sure how to explain it. It's like a soft buzzing in the back of my head when you're worried. And last night it was louder, like a shout," he motioned toward the back of his head.

"I don't remember having a bad dream,"Aoba said. "Im sorry if I worried you."

Clear smiled. "As long as you're OK, I'm happy Aoba-san." Aoba smiled at him. He smiled back, painfully staring at Aoba's bedroom door.

"What's wrong?" Aoba asked.

He wiped the look on his face quickly. "Nothing Aoba-san! I have to go now," he said while starting toward the door. "Bye-bye," he waved.

"Bye," Aoba waved back weakly.

She was woken up by a loud bark by her ear.

"Ow! Yuki!"

"Payne," he whispered. "Be quiet."

She furrowed her brow. "Why?"

He motioned toward the mouth of the alley with his paw. There were four lowlife looking thugs standing around, causing trouble for those walking by. She could see why Yuki was worried, they didn't exactly look friendly. But she was confident in her abilities, as well as itching for a fight.

"I'll be fine," Payne whispered. "Remember, big bro taught me how to fight a long time ago." She started toward the opening of the alley.

Yuki whined a bit. Her damn ego was going to get her killed one of these days.

Noiz made his way down the silent streets, lost in thought. Now that he'd gotten feeling back in his body, he was able to feel how uncomfortable the cold was and he loved it. The foreign feeling of goosebumps rising on his arms, his throat burning from the chilled air.

A sharp grunt broke him from his stupor. He'd ended up in front of an alley between some place called Black Needle and a ramen shop. The space between the two buildings was dark, and where he stood was the only opening. Sharp inhales and the dull sounds of a foot hitting flesh were loud.

Out of curiosity, Noiz stalked into the alleyway, wanting to see if it was a few Ribsters having a disagreement or maybe a little shithead saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.

A pained whine, sounding as though from a dog, rang out.

"Yuki!" a light voice shouted. "Get out of he-" the words got cut off by a pained grunt. Another pitiful whine.

Noiz used the dim light from his coil to illuminate at least a bit of the alley, and saw something that made his blood run cold.

She had two thugs holding her arms and keeping her from fighting, while the other two beat every bit of her they could reach. She looked as though she were refusing to cry out, would rather endure the pain than humiliate herself like that. But she looked on the verge of collapse and who knew what they'd do to her once she was out cold. Her allmate all but unconscious, lying next to a dumpster, being able to do nothing but watch his master get hit.

"You like to talk shit, huh little bitch," he enunciated the last word with a swift kick to her stomach. "You won't be talking shit much longer, we got you. And guess what we're gonna do." He pulled out a cruel looking blade, one edge serrated, the other smooth. She made no reaction, but the closer the blade got to her the worse Noiz felt. He just couldn't move. Until the curved edge pierced her soft abdomen, her blood spilling onto the floor.

"Oi," Noiz said, his throat was thick as he tried to swallow the bile threatening to rise from his stomach.

The four dead men looked up at him, angrily. "What do you want, asshole?" a particularly brave one, or perhaps stupid, asked. Noiz didn't care.

He walked slowly over to them, an aura of pure rage emanating from every pore on his body, but his face composed. The two holding her arms, let her go suddenly, and she fell to the floor like a rag doll, landing in her own blood and splashing a bit more onto the ground.

"I asked you a question," a blonde one spat at him, looking at him arrogantly.

Noiz cracked his knuckles, not even bothering to put on his metal gloves, preferring to engage in this fight bare fisted. They laughed at him.

"Look at this jo-" his words were cut off when Noiz's fist collided with the side of his head, momentarily stunning him. Giving Noiz time to knock him to the ground, where he hit his head, hard.

The others stood slack-jawed, unable to process what just happened.

They ran away. Noiz would love to chase after them and pummel them into the earth, but he had more pressing matters.

He ran over to her and fell to his knees beside her. His hand reached out and felt her face. Rain began to fall from the sky as he picked her up and carried her away, unintentionally leaving the white ball of fluff in the alley.

Payne sat up quickly, wincing at the sharp pain in her side. Her eyes quickly adjusted. Looking around, she saw she was in a place she was unfamiliar with, and Yuki was nowhere she could see.

She quietly lifted heraelf from the futon she was laid on and walked to the door next to it. She pressed her ear to the thin wood, but heard nothing.

As quickly as she dsared she opened the door, to an equally dark hallway. She took one cxautious step out, and looked around. There were two directions she could go. The right lead to another door, and the left downstairs.

She carefully opened the door to the right, but it was just a small closet with things like brooms and spare hangers. Closing the door, she lightly padded toward the stairs. A dim light could be seen emanating from a door near the bottom.

She slowly made her way down, damning every step that made a small creak.

Payne stood outside the opening to the lit area. She sikently pictured the layout of the house, as least the parts she knew. She tuned her head to peer into the lit room, her side screaming with a dull pain as it dug into a light switch. The sight she saw made her hold her breath.

"Thanks Ribster," Noiz said, glaring at the tanned man in front of him.

"No need to thank me Rhymer," he laughed. "Shes part of the family."

Noiz practically glared at Mizuki, with his damned tattoos and ego. Mizuki grinned slyly while putting bandages and rubbing alcohol into a little brown box.

"Something the matter?" he asked.

Noiz ignored him and went to the table to grab a bottle of painkillers. "Are you sure shes going to need these?"

"Yes," he answered, convincingly. "That thing hurt like a bitch. She'll want them."

Noiz continued to stare at the bottle. The thought of dulling any of the sensations hes been recently given seemed blasphemous. But, maybe she thought differently. After all, she hasnt lived years without pain. To her its probably just a nuisance.

"Oh," Mizuki said, sounding haopy. Noiz looked up, and then over toward the entrance of the room where Mizuki grin was directed.

His breathe caught in his throat. She looked exhausted, and on the verge of tears. "Payne?"

Payne stared for what seemed like hours at Noiz. She wasn't really sure what to do now. She'd looked so hard, and for so long. She wasn't prepared for it to actually be over. To have found him.

"Payne?" he whispered.

She slowly put one step into the unfamiliar kitchen, not worrying about any danger or a trap. She suddenly fell to her knees and grabbed at her side. Noiz and Mizuki were next to her within a second, trying to help her regain her balance. But, she didn't want to stand.

She put her hands over her face, and tears streamed out of her eyes. A broken sob caught in her throat. Mizuki grabbed her head and put it on his chest, running his hands through her hair gently. Noiz had his hand over hers and was gently rubbing his thumb across her fingers.

She sat up, and wrapped her arms around Noiz's neck. He seemed a bit taken aback, but quickly recovered and hugged her back tightly.

Her side screamed in pain, but it barely registered as she cried out, "Oh god I found you. Big bro, I found you!"


End file.
